The Elrics have a cousin?
by ms. cheerful
Summary: Edward and Alphonse have a cousin! But when their cousin's parents get killed in the Ishvallan war, she suddenly disappears. Later into the story, they run into each other accidently, and the Fullmetal Alchemist's adventure gets 10 times crazier than it should be.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, Readers! It's ms. cheerful! This is my first fanfiction EVER, and I hope you like it. I have to admit this first chapter is REALLY slow, but it'll pick up speed in the second. Anyways...Enjoy!**

There were four kids, 2 blond haired boys, a girl with pure black hair, and another girl with blond hair. They were all playing by the river, with Den running around them, barking. The youngest and the calmest, the girl with black hair, sat under a tree and and made toys out of grass.

"Al! Hey, watch out!" A young Edward Elric, only 5 years old, shouted to his younger brother while splashing water on him. The two boy's eyes shone pure gold, and were filled with excitement. The boys laughed and ran, chasing one another.

"Ed! Don't splash water like that! You got my dress wet!" Winry yelled, who was the same age as Ed. Her blue eyes had annoyance bubbling in them, and began chasing Ed as well. Under the tree, the 3 year old girl with raven-black hair smiled. She had bright blue, and were such a blue color that it almost seemed impossible her eyes were such color.

When the sun began to set, the children began to head home.

"Ed. Granny is making stew again tonight." Winry said.

"Alright!" He cheered.

During dinner, the young girl with black hair asked Granny "Granny? Is my mommy and daddy coming home soon?"

Pinako sighed, and said "I don't know, sweetie."

"No letter?" She asked.

"No, I'm sorry." Granny answered. The girl sighed, and swung her feet back and forth.

"I miss them." Granny felt bad for her. Her name is Julie Stonehart, and she's the Elric boy's cousin. Julie was an incredibly smart girl, almost smarter than Edward, who was 2 years older than her. Her parents, like Winry's, were helping to take care of the Ishvallans in the war. But the problem was that Julie was so young. After dinner, the Elric brothers and their cousin left to go home to their mother.

"Ed?"

"Yes, Julie?" Ed answered.

"You shouldn't be mad that your daddy left. Because you still have your mommy." Julie said, sadly. Ed gritted his teeth at the thought of his father. But not wanting to upset his little cousin, he just nodded.

Julie bowed her head, and whispered "I think….I think something bad happened to my mommy and daddy…"

The next day, the children were playing again. Suddenly, rain and thunder began to pour down rapidly. The kids were shocked, and ran home as fast as they could. Ed, Al, Julie, and Winry who had to go to the closest house, burst into the house, soaked to the bone and panting.

"Oh my!" Trisha exclaimed, noticing the kids. She smiled and began to dry them off.

_**Knock Knock Knock.**_

Trisha opened the door. "Hello, Pinako!" Pinako smiled.

"Is Winry here? I just wanted to make sure-oh there you are!" Granny Pinako said.

_**Knock Knock Knock.**_

Trisha stopped for a moment, and told the kids to go upstairs and finish drying themselves off. She was hoping in her mind it was Hohenheim, and opened the door.

"Oh! Well, hello. Would you like to come in?" Trisha said, her disappointment hidden. A military officer in a blue coat tipped his hat politely.

"I apologize, ma'am, for interrupting your afternoon, but I can't stay long. I have a letter, for Miss Julie Stonehart? It is regarding her parents." Trisha curiously held the letter, and opened it. Pinako walked over, and peered at the letter. Her pipe dropped out of her mouth.

"Sir! What is the meaning of this letter?! Julie's parents…what happened?!" Pinako exclaimed, though still trying to be quiet to try not to scare the children upstairs.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I do not know the details. There is some important information in the letter, and if you'll excuse me, I'll have to go." The military officer tipped his hat again, and walked out into the rain.

Trisha and Pinako could hardly believe it. They sat on the couch, and read the letter.

Trisha's heart cried out as she read that Julie's parents were burned to death.

"Should...should we tell Julie?" Trisha asked, worriedly, and tears started to collect. Pinako shook her head.

"I don't think it's quite the right time to." She answered.

"Its true." Trisha and Pinako tensed. They turned around and saw Julie, small and trembling at the stairs, watching them.

"I knew it. I had a feeling something happened yesterday!" Julie cried out, tears pouring out of her eyes. Trisha got off the couch and leaned down to comfort her.

"I don't have a mommy and daddy anymore!" Julie wailed, and tears poured out like a waterfall. She wrenched herself from Trisha's grasp and ran towards the door. She yanked it open, and ran away into the pouring night.

"Mom, what's going on?" Ed, Al, and Winry peeked out from the doorway that led to the stairs. Trisha shot up, and yelled, "Oh no! We have to find her! Boys, stay home! Winry you too! Pinako, watch the kids, I'm going to find Julie!" Trisha ran faster than she had ever done before, and into the rain.

"No! Mom! We're coming with you!" Al yelled, eyes wide. He and his brother threw on a raincoat and splashed out into the rain.

"BOYS! Come back! Wait!" Pinako exclaimed.

"ED! HEY! STOP!" Winry shouted, but the boys were already down in the road after their mother.

Night had fallen, and the rain had finally stopped. The Elrics searched everywhere that they could. Trisha let out a breath, tired from the chasing and shouting.

"Mom. What happened?" Al said in his soft voice.

Trisha sighed. "Your uncle and auntie was killed in the war." Ed's eyes widened.

"But mama...will we ever find her? She's so little." Al said, tearing up. Trisha leaned down to her boys. "I'll set up a search party for her. For now, let's hope she'll be found, and Let's go and rest."

Ed and Al both burst into tears, and Trisha laughed, only there were tears coursing down her cheeks.

**Again...It's pretty slow...in my eyes, at least. But I hope you'll like the next chapter better. Please review if you get the chance and let me know how I did. ^_^**


	2. Chapter 2

**HI! Here's another chapter. I put another one up with the first so that you can see what happens next. This chapter doesn't have much again, sorry.**

Ed exhaled.

"You ready, Al?" Ed said. Al nodded.

"Mm hm."

"Ok, let's do this." The boys placed their hands on the human transmutation circle. In a 2 seconds, it glowed blue/white, and lightning shot through and around their fingertips. The boys grinned, excited and hoping to see their mom again. Within seconds, the bright light turned black and purple, with an ominous feeling to it.

The boys stared at each other and looked around in shock. Then things went wrong. A huge eye appeared in the middle of the circle. Black hands poured out of it, almost like eyelashes. The hands reached forward and grabbed the boys. Ed gasped, as hands scratched away his leg.

"ED! ED! HELP!" Al cried out, fear scrawled across his face. He was being dragged into A bright light by the black hands.

"NO! AL! ALPHONSE!" Ed desperately lunged forward, but missed his younger brother's hand as it was being dissolved.

"No...this wasn't supposed to happen!" Ed cursed, and saw that he had no left leg, just a dripping stump.

Then there was a bright flash of light, and Ed opened his eyes to see vast amounts of white space in front of him.

"**Hello."** A voice said, and Ed jumped, as he noticed a white figure with black particles floating around him.

"Who are you?"

"**I'm so glad you asked. I am the world. I am the universe. I am truth. I am all. I am one. And-I am also you. Now, you have dared to knock on the door, so it has opened."** The figure said, grinning. Giant doors in front of Ed opened up, and black hands grabbed Ed again.

Suddenly, there were reels of information, like the reel of tape on a film, that spun around Ed.

"No! Stop! It's too much!" Edward yelled, his mind feeling like combusting with all the information that was being crammed into his head. Then he was back in front of Truth.

"**There. Now have you finally realized what the truth is?"**

Ed's eyes widened. "Show that to me again! It has all the information I need to perform a perfect human transmutation!"

"**No. That is as much as I can show you with the toll that you paid."**

Ed looked at the Truth, and suddenly realized that the truth had...his leg?

Edward was back in his home, on the ground with his bleeding stump.

Ed sobbed. "No...somebody help! This wasn't supposed to happen! Mom!...Mom?"

Smoke cleared from the transmutation, and in place was a grotesque thing in the middle. It wouldn't even be considered human. It's organs were spilled out, and blood was dripping from it. It wheezed, and Its eyes glowed yellow as it reached towards a terrified Ed. He screamed, and lighting and rain boomed and flashed.

Suddenly, there was thud against the window. Edward froze, frightened of what it might be.

He looked, and saw a silhouette of a figure. The figure had hair tied in a ponytail, and blue eyes that glowed with each flash of lightning.

"Wh….who...who are you? What are you doing here?" Ed asked, trembling. There was a blinding flash of lighting, and the figure was gone.

Edward shook himself off, and a suit of armor fell. Ed dragged himself over, and drew a blood rune on the inside of the armor.

"Give my brother back! He's the only one I have left! GIVE HIM BACK!" Ed transmuted the blood rune, and successfully attached his brother's soul to it before he passed out.

**Okey doke! Not much happened, just the human transmutation, and a mysterious figure! Can anyone guess who it was? I like seriously promise the next chapter will be a lot more eventful. And I do apologize for the shortness. Happy Halloween! Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**OK! Hopefully, this chapter is better! This is kind of after the Elrics meet the Tringham to ciarra halle and Dreamer372 for favoriting my story! ^_^**

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 6 or 7 years~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A girl raced up concrete steps two at a time, panting and feeling like collapsing.

"Little….girl...MEAT!" A grotesque thing leaped after her, his large tongue drooling. His pure white eyes glowed. The girl turned around, and saw the tattoo, the _ouroboros _tattoo that she'd read so much finally reached the top of the abandoned warehouse's stairs, but she couldn't stop running.

She reached a dark hallway, and forced her burning lungs to hold out for a little longer.

"I'm so HUNGRY!" the thing shrieked.

"N-no….somebody help…" the girl panted, still running.

"Oh, you poor girl. Running away, aren't you? Like you can do that. Ha ha. How about you just come with us, nice and gentle, and there wouldn't be any injuries." A pretty woman with purple eyes and lips said, in a calm, soothing voice. The girl knew that there was something evil underneath that thick coating of kindness.

The girl gritted her teeth.

"Still stubborn, I see. You'll regret that, honey." The woman stretched out her hand, and long, sharp nails protruded out towards the girl. The poor girl yelped and threw herself to the other wall to avoid them.

The girl felt lightheaded, and stumbled. But it was a good thing, because there was a boy with palm tree-like hair that threw a high kick at her face.

"How...many...are there of you?! Aren't...you homunculi?" She smuttered. She snapped her fingers and slammed them on the ground. Sharp spikes shot towards all the attacker, only to be sliced off by the woman's nails. The girl used the last of her energy to sprint away, but she realized there was a dead end up ahead.

"Little girl MEEEEAAAAAT!" The large thing that was chasing after on the stairs lunged after her. At the dead end, the girl snapped her fingers again, placed them on the wall, and the building exploded. But not before the large homunculus chomped off her left arm.

"Hey, Al! Hurry up!" Ed screamed after his brother, who was leaning down into an alley.

Al clanked as he stood up quickly, and jogged over.

"S-sorry brother." Ed glared at him.

"Get rid of it, Al."

"Wh...what?!"

"I said get rid of it!"

"U-um...heh...I don't know what you want me to get rid of…"

"Alphonse Elric! I said that we don't have time to take care of little things like that!"

"B-but brother, I don't have anyth-"

"MEOW." A hollow meow came from Alphonse's armor.

Al froze, and made that cute/innocent chibi face. Then he had anime tears flowing down his eyes.

"Noooo! How could you, kitty?! You betrayed me! I told you not to tell brother you're here!

"AL! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT PICKING UP CATS?!" Ed yelled.

"Uh...Ah! Brother, calm down!" Al freaked out, and started running away.

"Come back here!"

'Wait, but brother! Stop chasing me! You should have seen the cat! It looked so lonely!"

"I'm sure it did, Al. But I'm not in the mood to be dealing with some cat! UGH! I have to see the stupid colonel to give my repo-"

**BOOM!**

"Whoa!" Ed and Al froze, and turned around, to catch an abandoned warehouse's side wall exploding. They gaped at the rubble and dust that flew around.

The people around the Elrics screamed and ran, covering their heads.

"Brother! What's going on?" Alphonse asked.

Ed shielded his eyes and squinted. "Uh…"

"Brother! I think that's a person! Flying out of the...OH NO! We have to catch her!"

"What?!" Ed said, looking around confused.

The girl flew high into the air. The area where her arm should have been had blood splattering out. As she began to fall towards earth, she could hear the homunculi that was chasing her cursing that they weren't able to get her.

Her brain became fuzzy, and she blacked out when she hit the ground with a sickening crack.

She opened her eyes for a brief second, and saw a boy with blond hair and golden eyes leaning over her. Then the world tilted upside down, and she totally and completely passed out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 3 hours~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ed returned to the hospital after buying some dinner.

"She awake yet Al?" Al shook his head. Edward sighed, and looked down at the dark haired girl sleeping in the hospital bed. She had raven black hair with bangs that partially covered her face. Before she was placed into a hospital gown, she had a cerulean-colored tube top with a white jean jacket. She wore black, tight jeans and white lace-up boots.

"Hey brother?"

"Hm?"

"Do you like this girl or something?"

"WHAT?!" Ed shouted. Al had his cute/innocent chibi face, and he held his hands up in defense.

"J-just a question. Because it's not like you to wait for someone to wake up for this long. And you just met her today...well, you didn't get to meet her...but still."

Ed frowned. "No. I don't have an interest in her. Just something about her is...familiar."

"Oh...ok then. I hope she'll be okay. Her arm was taken clean off. and she broke several ribs from that fall. I wonder what happened."

"Yeah. Me too." Ed continued to stare at the girl, and suddenly he had a flash back.

**Suddenly, there was thud against the window. Edward froze, frightened of what it might be.**

**He looked, and saw a silhouette of a figure. The figure had hair tied in a ponytail, and blue eyes that glowed with each flash of lightning. **

"**Wh….who...who are you? What are you doing here?" Ed asked, trembling. There was a blinding flash of lighting, and the figure was gone.**

Ed shook his head. "Could it be…?" He thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Time Skip: The next day~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The sun shone through the blinds, and it was about 7:00 in the morning.

Al sat quietly, watching the heart monitor. He sighed, bored, and wondered what about her caught his older brother's eyes. She was really pretty, but Ed said that he didn't have an interest in her. He turned, and looked at his brother, who was sleeping in a hospital chair.

He turned back around, and was astonished to see the girl's heartbeat getting faster.

Suddenly, the girl's eyes snapped open, and looked around, groggily. If Al had a body, you would be able to see him widen his eyes. The girl had the blue-est eyes he had ever seen!

"Brother! Hey, Brother! She's awake!" Ed shot off his chair, and walked forward, but because he got up so fast, he stumbled and crashed to the ground.

"Oh, brother." Al muttered.

Edward popped back up and looked at the girl, who stared back.

"Who are you?" He asked.

~The girl's POV~

I woke up in a hospital bed. I panicked, thinking the homunculi got me, but relaxed when I saw it was a normal hospital. I heard a distant voice shouting for his brother. Things became more clearer, and I watched as the boy with golden eyes who came to me after I fell approach.

"Who are you?" He asked. I blinked, and coughed. I forced my voice to come out.

"Julie. Julie Stonehart."

**So! That is the third chapter...and I hope you liked it! ^_^ I'll hopefully have another chapter...sometime by next week? But I don't like leaving people hanging, so I'm going to work hard to get another chapter out. Please review if you get the chance! I appreciate it!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay! Chapter….Wait...I forgot what chapter this is...oh, here. Yay! Chapter 4! Sorry about the grammar mistakes and stuff in the last one, where some of the sentences were cut off. For some reason it changed when I uploaded it onto the website. So here is what I meant to say: Thanks to ciarra halle and Dreamer372 for favoriting! **

**And this takes place after the Elrics had met the Tringham brothers.**

Ed stared at Julie.

"What?" Ed said, his facial expression screaming "DOES NOT COMPUTE!"

Julie squinted and stared at Ed. The her eyes shot open wide.

"ED!" She said, happily. She shot up, but fell back with a wince from the pain in her chest. Edward stumbled back.

"Wh-what? You know me?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"ED!" I shouted. Realization hit me like a ton of bricks when I recognized him. This was Ed!

Edward stared at me, and took a step back.

"Wh-what? You know me?" I could feel the excitement on my face disappear.

"Of course. It's been too long since we've seen each other." I said, disappointed. Ed frowned, clearly trying to remember me. The his jaw dropped.

"J-Julie?! You're my cousin who ran away when you found out that-...your...um…" I nodded happily. Then I turned to the big suit of armor that was watching me the entire time.

"Hey...is that you Al?" I asked, tilting my head. Alphonse tilted his head as well.

"Y-yeah...do I know you?" Al answered. I frowned.

"You don't remember me? I'm your cousin, Julie, the one who ran away when I heard my parents died? I heard that you and Ed searched for me with your mom right after I left."

"His memory was taken away." Edward said.

"Oh. Because you tried human transmutation?" I asked.

"So it WAS you!" Ed shouted, pointing a finger at me.

"Was who?"

"You were the one who appeared that night! It was you who was standing in the window when we tried to...transmute...my mom…" Ed trailed off. I nodded.

"I've been looking for you. I heard you were in Central, so I travelled here, hoping to see you guys again. Then I was attacked, and here I am." I explained.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Where did you live?" Alphonse asked as he tried to remember his cousin.

"Everywhere. I went to place to place trying to find out information about my parents. And I did some research on alchemy too. And I starved, too, when I couldn't find food. It was really hard to find places because your mom sent a search party from the military after me."Ed and Al stared at her in shock.

"How in the world did you survive alone for- for….uh...for however many years you were missing?" Julie shrugged.

"Sooo….I lost my arm, huh?" Julie said, sadly. She looked up to see Ed's eyes filled with tears.

"Wh-what? Ed, what w-" Suddenly, Ed's tears flowed down his face. He leaned down and hugged a surprised Julie.

"Y-You idiot. Didn't you think about how worried we would get when you disappeared?!" Julie bowed her head.

"I'm sorry. I was really upset, and I didn't want to see anything at that time that reminded me of my parents." Julie blushed and turned her head.

Al nodded. "We understand. Brother and I burned our home down as a symbol that we are never going back."

"You burned your home down?!" Julie exclaimed, bewildered that they would so such thing.

Edward nodded.

Suddenly the door burst open, and everyone jumped. They turned to see a smiling Hughes walking in.

"Hey Ed! There you are! And hello to you, Al! How are you boys? The colonel was wondering where you ran off to! He was expecting a report, but it never came! So he sent me to look for you guys! And I heard you were at the hospital! I understand that you hate the colonel, but you have turn that report in of your mission, go that? Great! So I'll let the colonel know that you're safe and heading over there soon, ok?" Hughes said in usual cheerful manner and rushed speech. Ed twitched with annoyance, while Julie stared at Hughes in confusion.

"Er...Hello, Mr. Hughes. You can tell the colonel we'll be there in a couple days, if that's-" Alphonse tried to answer, but was interrupted by Hughes again.

"Oh, hey Ed! I see you've got yourself a girlfriend! Wow! She sure is cute! BUT not as cute as my ELICIA!" Hughes said, then pulled out a couple pictures. "See Ed? Here are my latest pictures of my darling Elicia and my beautiful wife Gracia!" Hughes held the picture up, and started wiggling around with fwibby lips.** (You're probably wondering 'fwibby' lips? It's those cute fish looking lips, or they look like half of a heart...not sure if the explanation is clear, but moving on…) **Ed twitched violently.

"She's not my girlfriend!" He shouted. "She's my cousin!" Hughes froze, and stared at Julie who stared back. Then he broke into a smile.

"Well well well! The Elric's cousin! Hi! I'm Maes Hughes! In the military, I'm called Lieutenant Maes Hughes! But you can call me Mr. Hughes! And you are?" Julie stared at him. Al noticed there was some...anger in his cousin's stare.

"Uh...oh, I'm Julie Stonehart." Julie answered. "You work for the military?" Hughes grinned and nodded. "That's right! And-wait. Stonehart? That's spelled S-t-o-n-e-h-a-r-t, right?" Hughes asked, a dark look crossing his face.

"Yes it is, Mr. Hughes." Julie said, with an icy tone. The Elric brothers sat in the corner of the room, feeling uncomfortable with Julie's tone. Hughes blinked, and turned around.

"Ahem...Well-See ya, boys! I'll send that message to the colonel, Al! See you guys around the base!" Hughes returned to his cheery self, but practically flew out of the room.

"Er...what was that about?" Al asked. Julie waved her right hand dismissively.

"Nothing important. So. From what said, you are apparently a state alchemist? And you work for the military?" Julie asked.

'Yeeeaaaahhh?" Edward asked suspiciously.

"Cool." was all Julie said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 3-4 days~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Edward's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Well, missy. You heal remarkably fast. You sure are a tough girl. I think you'll be able to be released today, and make sure your body doesn't go through too much trauma!" The doctor said, giving a cheery smile. **(Yeah, I know. That's such a short time to heal after your arm is taken off, but I had to do that keep the story going.)**

Julie returned the smile, and said, "Thanks, doctor!"

"Hey, as soon as we deliver this report to the idiot colonel, we can go back to our home. Remember Winry? She's become a great automail mechanic." I suggested. The doctor laughed.

"Well, that's great! Please watch over her young man! Goodbye, Julie! Be safe!" The doctor said, and left the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~~*~**~Time Skip: 1 hour~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Julie was ready to go. She had me buy her the same clothes that she had on before we went to the hospital. So she wore a blue tube top that matched her eyes, a white jean jacket, white boots, and black skinny jeans like mine.

"You good?" I asked her.

"Yup! Let's go!" She grinned at me. I sighed, but I was happy that she was happy, I mean, when we were little kids, she was so gloomy and mellow. But now that she's with us, she's so...happy.

We arrived at the military base. I groaned.

"I wish I didn't have to see that dumb colonel again." I mumbled.

"Oh, brother. If you don't argue this time, then the meeting won't be that long." Al said.

"And besides, he'll understand that we have someone we need to take care of, and we need to take her to Resembool for automail."

I groaned again.

"He'll tease me, thinking I have to take care of some sort of girlfriend I have." (Julie was zoning out, and wasn't listening to the conversation.)

I twitched with annoyance. "And I don't need anymore things for that colonel to tease me abou-"

"MEOW." Alphonse froze.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"ALPHONSE! DIDN'T YOU GET RID OF THAT CAT THAT WE PICKED UP IN THE ALLEY?!" Ed exploded. Al squeaked, and tried to hide. Julie snapped out of her little daydream and watched the two boys squabble. She sighed with a smile. It reminded her so much of when they were little. She shifted a little to reposition her jean jacket so that it was more comfortable. It was harder than she thought getting used to having only one arm.

Suddenly, Edward got an evil smile on his face.

"I have an idea on how to get rid of the cat! I'll fight the colonel, and the loser gets the cat! Mwah ha ha!" Ed cried out triumphantly. AL and Julie both had those cute, chibi-like blank faces.

"Uh...brother? Are you ok?" ALphonse asked, worry in his voice.

"YES! WOO HOO!" Ed shouted, and entered the military base.

**Woo...ok! So that was chapter 4! How'd you like it? Please review if you get the chance! I appreciate it. The next chapter will be about Edward versus Mustang...and that might take a while because of the fighting scenes. But anyway! Bye!**


	5. Chapter 5

**HELLO PEOPLE! ^_^ I'm really happy right now because I got reviews! So THANK YOU SO MUCH to Shadowen the Demon-Shinigami and RoseGranger! And thank you Shadowen the Demon-Shinigami for favoriting! I is like happy happy! *Cough* Too much...shouting...So anyway! Here's chapter 5! Enjoy!**

"Hey, Julie. You can wait outside the room in the hallway. It won't take too long." Alphonse said as they reached Colonel Mustang's office door. Julie nodded, and Ed amazed her by wiping off his evil grin, and replacing it with a bored, annoyed expression in a matter of seconds.

"Well, here we go. I have to see that stupid colo-" Ed said through clenched teeth.

"Let's go, brother." Al cut him off and opened the door.

Ed was met by a cheerful "Hey chief! How are ya?" from Havoc. Havoc had his usual cigar dangling from his mouth and a grin.

"Hey Havoc." Ed looked around. "Uh...Where's the colonel?"

Lieutenant Breda walked by with his usual grumpy-like expression that was almost covered by a tall stack of unfinished paperwork..

"Went to escape the paperwork by leaving on a coffee break." He said. Then a tick mark appeared on his head. "And he had to leave the rest of the paperwork for us." Breda growled.

Ed stomped his foot. "Dang it! That idiot colonel asks me to come see him to give a report and he leaves as soon as I get here?!" Al stood behind him and tried to calm him down, but failed.

"What kind of-?!"

"Hello, Edward. You too, Alphonse. Have you boys been well?" Lieutenant Hawkeye appeared at the door way with yet another stack of unfinished paperwork.

"Er-hello, Lieutenant. Brother came to give his report. Do you know when he will be back?" Alphonse asked.

Riza walked to the empty desk with raised eyebrows. "Oh I see. As soon as I leave, he tries to make his escape?!" Riza said with an evil glint in her eyes. All of Mustang's team cowered in a corner of the room as Riza pulled out her gun.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I wandered away from the door when I got bored. I saw a pretty lady with blond hair clipped up walk into the room, but she had too big of a stack of paper to see me. I sighed. I thought Al said it won't take too long? I walked around a corner, and run right into someone.

"Yeep!" I squeaked as I fell on my left side.

"Whoa!" said...I'm guessing it is a man from his deep voice. I struggled to get up because my missing arm made me off balance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Roy's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I fell backwards and landed with a thud on my bottom, much to my embarrassment. I saw that the person I ran into was a girl, and so I hastily got up and helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright?"I asked. The girl laughed, a soft, sweet sound.

"Sorry, Sir. I should've watched where I was going." She answered.

She looked up at me, and my eyes widened. I knew by the looks of the girl our ages were way too far apart, but this girl was beautiful. She had perfectly tanned skin, and amazingly blue eyes that sparkled. Her eyelashes were dark and long, and her eyebrows had perfect arches. Her hair was black, the same color as mine, only it was glossy and looked so soft. Her lips were a nice shade of pink, and her smile was perfect. The girl had an awesome figure, and a confident posture. She was just my typ-

"Um...are you alright sir?" The girl asked, worry written on her face.

I changed my voice to my soft, suave tone.

"Yes I am, but I am more concerned of you. Are you sure you are ok? I apologize for that." I answered. This girl was so pretty, but there was something about her that I recognize...

The girl nodded.

"That's a relief. And may I ask what your nam-"

"COLONEL." I froze. Uh oh…...Riza alert.

Lieutenant Riza stomped up to me and pointed a gun at my head.

"Back. To. The. Office. Now. To. Finish. Paperwork." Riza said, fire burning in her eyes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I jumped away when I saw the gun pointed at Must….the man who I ran into. I couldn't help feel sorry for him as he was dragged away.

"You have no time to be flirting with women sir!" I could hear the woman say.

I waited a moment, holding my aching stump. The I followed the two military officers. Back to the office.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Edward's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Br…"

"Bro…"

"Broth…"

"Brother…"

"BROTHER!" Al yelled.

"Wh-what?! What happened?! Is Julie ok?! Are you ok?! What's goin' on?!" I shot up from my comfortable dream on the couch.

"Hey there Ed! Glad to see that you made it to the base ok! Hey, where's the colonel? He must have tried to escape the lieutenant. Oh wait, where's your cousin?" Hughes leaned down so that he was eye level with Ed.

"Um…" Ed mumbled. "Waiting outside."

"Oh, that's great! Hey, you know-"

BAM!

"-and you know you have a deadline for all this paperwork! There's no way your team will forge your signatures for you all day while you run away and relax!" Lieutenant Riza kicked open the door and dragged the colonel in.

"Hey colonel! Guess what! It's my darling little Elicia's birthday today~!" Hughes said, swooning with happiness.

I looked out the open doorway.

"Hey, where's Julie?" I asked Al.

"Umm…..I'm not sure. I don't see her…" Al said as he poked his head out the door.

"Hey, stupid colonel. Here's your report." I said, throwing a stack of papers at his face. "Oh, and have you seen a girl with black hair and blue eyes?"

Mustang blushed a little, and turned his head. "I ran into her."

I shot up to my feet. "WHAT?! And you came back without helping her?! She's was released from the hospital today from losing her left arm!" Mustang's eyes grew wide.

"Oh shoot. Sorry Lieutenant. I gotta take care of some matters." Mustang sprang out of his seat and raced to the door.

"SIR!" Riza roared after him.

Just as Mustang rounded the corner of the door, he slammed into someone.

He ricocheted backwards, which would've been funny if it wasn't an injured Julie he ran into.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Me and Al screamed.

"J-Julie! are you ok?!" Alphonse said, leaping off the couch he was currently sitting on.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My stump hurt. Like seriously. I grabbed it and clenched my teeth from the pain. I had built a high pain tolerance during those years I struggled to survive, and if I didn't, I bet I would faint.

"Oh!" The man I ran into said. "I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

I forced myself to ignore the pain and got up.

"Yep." I said.

"Julie! Are you ok?" Al asked.

I sighed. "Yeah, guys, you can stop worrying."

"Well! Are you Fullmetal's girlfriend?" the man stood up and asked me.

Ed glared at him. "Mustang. She. Is. Not. My. Girlfriend. SHE'S MY COUSIN!"

All of Mustang's workers covered their ears.

Mustang. That name. I know it. I flinched.

"Mustang. Roy Mustang? The Flame Alchemist? The Hero of Ishval?" I said in a low voice.

Mustang blinked. "Yes, I am. And you are?"

"Julie. Julie Stonehart." I said through gritted teeth, only it was from anger, not pain.

Mustang's reaction was just as I imagined. Edward, Alphonse, Mr. Hughes, and the rest of the workers stared at us.

Colonel Mustang's eyes widened. "You...don't happen to know people named Macy and Jonathan?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I do, because they were my parents. I mean, I did, before you killed them." Julie said, and her eyes looked like it could almost freeze the sun. The room was absolutely silent. Then she blinked, and her eyes became soft and kind.

"Hey Ed, let's hurry. I want to get an arm." And with that, Julie stepped out of the room, and slammed the door shut.

The trance was broken, and Mustang's team started shuffling papers, and eyeing their colonel. Mustang was staring at nothing, but there was fear and sadness crossed together on his face. He finally remembered those eyes, the hair...

"Hey...Colonel? You ok?" Edward couldn't help but put in some concern in his tone.

Riza touched his arm.

"Sir?" Mustang shook his head and cleared his throat.

"Hmph. Thanks for the report. I'm surprised it got here before next month with those short legs of your-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?!" Ed exploded.

"You." the colonel retorted with a smirk. Ed twitched violently, but calmed down.

"Hey...what was going on with you and my cousin?"

Mustang sighed, and looked at his feet. "In the Ishvalan war, her parents were working to help the wounded Ishvalans. They were taking the ones in stable condition into theses large wagon-like vehicles and taking them to a safe camp they had started building. They had a large team so that more Ishvalans could be saved at a time. Then the Fuhrer found out about them. He ordered the military to kill them. He told me, because of my flame alchemy." Mustang took a shuddering breath. "And...I did. I blew up every single...one of them. I hit a wagon, and your cousin's dad's body flew towards me, and landed right at my feet. He...then he...he grabbed my pants, and said, "Please. Take care of my daughter. She is 3 years old. She has blue eyes, and black hair. Please don't let her suffer and live without parents. If you ever meet her, tell….tell her that mommy and d...daddy...loves her. Please...please…" And her father's eyes still haunt me today. I felt terrible killing a 3 year old's parents. That was another part of the Ishvalan war I despised."

Mustang grew silent, and so did the room. Hughes, for the first time, had a calm face as he remembered that day. He had been standing next to Mustang, and couldn't help but tear up when he heard that the man and his wife had a three year old daughter.

Edward and Al looked at each other. "So that's what happened to her parents" Ed muttered.

Mustang looked at Ed.

"She ran away in despair. And learned to survive on her own. And that's why she lost her arm. She was attacked, but that's where she met up with us again." Alphonse finished. Ed shook off the sad feeling.

Then in an almost evil tone, he said, "Hey, colonel. I challenge you to a fight." Mustang smirked, but was still thinking of Julie's parent's death. "You sound like you think you'll win."

"Loser gets this cat." Ed reached towards Al, opened his chest plate, pulled out the cat, and presented it to Mustang, who stared at it."

"You're on."

**So sorry, people who are reading! I lied…(._.) I said this would be the chapter where they fight...but it isn't. It'll be the next chapter...I PROMISE. This chapter made the whole story slow down again because I was trying to explain some backgrounds and stuff….I sorry. Next chapter is the fighting scene, so yay! See you next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi hi! I decided to post up the fighting chapter, chapter 6, on the same day as the 5th. I felt bad for being all like "Fighting scene in the next chapter! Oops, sorry! I changed it so that it's really slow and kinda not so exciting! =D You'll have to wait another 4-5 days for the next one! (I really don't know the average of how many days it takes me to type and post a chapter.) ( ._.) So...to apologize, I'm givin' you another chapter along with the 5th one. ^_^...I also apologize for skipping the part with Black Hayate in it. I'll add that as a side story later...**

Hughes stood up on a stage, announcing the match between the Fullmetal Alchemist and the Flame Alchemist.

"**Welcome to the match between the Fullmetal alchemist and the Flame alchemist!" Hughes shouted into the microphone.**

"**And the best part is- IT'S MY DARLING LITTLE ELICIA'S THIRD BIRTHDAY TODAAAAY!" **Hughes announced, and yanked a cord connected to a huge canvas behind him.

A large bundle of cloth fell from the large canvas and revealed a picture of

Elicia hugging a teddy bear. The crowd booed with sweat drops.

Then, the canvas groaned, and landed right on top of Hughes.**(._.') (Yikes…)**

Once that... mess was cleaned up, Julie and Al watched as Ed and Colonel Roy Mustang stepped up.

The crowd cheered...and asked where Ed is.

'Where is he? I can't...see him! He's pretty short!" The crowd murmured. Al grabbed Ed right as Edward shot towards them screaming "I'M NOT SHORT! YOU WANNA COME UP HERE AND SAY IT TO MY FACE?!"

Hughes interrupted, and announced,** "Ready?" **As he sped off to a safer area, he said, **"Begin!"**

Right off the bat, Mustang snapped his finger. Flames lashed out at Edward, and roared as it came closer. Ed flipped out of the way, and somersaulted to somewhere safer.\. Mustang smirked, and continued to snap his fingers.

Julie blinked as she watched this. "So. That's why he's called the Flame?"

Al nodded, worried for his brother. He was glad she calmed down after that scary moment between his cousin and Mustang.

Edward suddenly dove into the crowd, running through the people.

"Oh my. Now it's gotten harder to hit that small target of mine." Mustang said in his mocking voice.

Ed froze, and screamed "DON'T CALL ME SHORT!" and made himself the perfect position to be fried.

The crowd around Ed panicked. "You've got to be kidding me!" shouted a soldier, and Mustang recklessly snapped his finger at the crowd. People were flung left and right, screaming.

The colonel looked around for the midget, and saw his silhouette through the dust.

When the dust got completely cleared, there stood a taunting dummy of Ed.

The colonel stared at it until it dawned on him that Ed escaped. He turned, and was met by Ed, who was in the air, slashing downwards with his transmuted arm. Ed successfully tore Mustang's glove.

Julie raised her eyebrows. "Whoa. Edward is pretty good."

"Yep." Al responded proudly.

Edward clapped his hands, and transmuted a cannon the size of a two story house.

"You're mine!" He shouted.

Suddenly, Mustang smirked, and pulled out his other hand, which of course, had another glove on.

"I always keep a spare, just in case."

Edward leaped up in shock, and of course, the Colonel had the cannon explode in flames. Ed was thrown into the air, flipping like trained acrobat...only this wasn't on purpose. The entire stage was blown up, and rubble was flung everywhere.

Ed landed on the ground, face planted.

Hughes leapt up and checked on Edward.

"Uh oh. He got too confident" Julie and Alphonse muttered at the same time.

"**And the winner is Colonel Mustaaaaaaaaaaaaaang**!" Hughes announced.

"Darn it." Alphonse and Julie muttered.

"Humph. That was too easy." Mustang said with a smirk. "So. Would anyone else like to challenge me?"

Edward shot up, and yelled, "THERE'S NO WAY I'M GONNA LOSE TO YOU, YOU ANNOYING COLONEL!"

Hughes put a hand on Edward's shoulder. 'Hey, sorry Ed, but Mustang won fair and square."

Ed fumed, and Julie stood up.

She took off her jean jacket and handed it to Al. "Hold this, please."

"Wh-what?" Al said, worriedly.

"Hey, Colonel Mustang! I'll fight you!" Julie announced, and stepped over a pile of rubble to reach him. The colonel's eyes widened, and he took a step back.

Although the stage was in ruins, there were still a couple soldiers watching. They looked at one another and whispered in confusion.

"Uh...ahem. I'm sorry, I can not do that. I don't want to hurt you." Mustang said, nervously.

Julie grinned. "Don't worry, I won't kill you, although you did kill my parents. Just for fun? Or are you afraid to lose to a girl? What will your lady fans think then?" Julie taunted/asked innocently.

"Fine." Mustang said grudgingly. "But know that the military is not responsible for your medical bill."

"W-wait!"Alphonse shouted. "You're missing an arm! The doctor said not to-"

"Hey, I'm fine." Julie responded, and gave a reassuring smile.

Hughes dragged Ed to where his brother was standing, and plopped a disgruntled Edward next to Alphonse.

Ed brushed himself off, stood to his full height, and yelled, "HEY JULIE! COME BACK HERE! YOU CAN'T GET HURT AGAIN!"

"No." She responded, and got into a battle stance, and Ed looked shocked.

Everyone in the crowd along with Mustang and Edward wondered, "Can she even do alchemy?!"

"**Um…**" Hughes said uncertainly. "**Begin**!" And the battle started.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I stood in my battle stance, waiting for the attack. And it came. Flames shot towards me, and I dodged each volley of attacks.

It felt great to move however I wanted again, but my missing left arm left me a little unsure of my movements.

Through the flames, I could see Mustang frowning, obviously becoming upset he couldn't land a blow.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Mustang's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I snapped my fingers over and over again, but this nimble girl continued to dodge my attacks. She's a lot different from Fullmetal.

I decided to pause, because the dust was starting to cloud my vision. When it cleared, Fullmetal's cousin was gone. In her place was a transmuted platform.

"She can transmute?" I muttered to myself. Then I realized that the platform might've been used to launch someone...crap. I looked above me, and saw a silhouette of a girl with a sword falling on top of me. I jumped out of the way, and Julie landed. But she wasn't done yet. Right when she hit the ground, she threw her transmuted sword at me like a javelin. I snapped my fingers, and the sword exploded.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Alphonse's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I petted the cat that was the entire reason for this fight, and I worried for Julie.

"I hope she'll be ok." I told brother. He nodded, and intently watched the match.

"I think the colonel's butt is getting kicked." brother said, and his face broke into an evil smile.

"Brother!" I scolded. I watched Julie fight. I grudgingly agreed inwardly that it looked like Julie _did_ seem to be doing better. I noticed she was able to transmute, but I wasn't sure how she was able to. She couldn't be drawing circles _that_ fast...Unless she doesn't need a transmutation circle like again, she would have to see the Truth. It didn't look like she had anything taken away…

Suddenly, there was an explosion that disrupted my thoughts. I noticed that Julie had a sword in her right hand. I hoped her wound is ok. I thought about the days she was in the hospital, and the stories she told us.

She told us how she lost her arm. Apparently, She was searching for us in Central. She saw someone who might've looked like brother, and followed him. She had found out that it really was him, and the Edward that she met told her to come into the warehouse that exploded. She followed him in, and suddenly all the entrances that she saw were blocked. The "Ed" turned out to be a boy who had some sort of power to turn into people, and he began to attack her. As she tried to escape them, more creatures like the one who attacked her came at her. She was chased to the top of the warehouse, and when she attacked them, they were able to heal super fast. When she had reached a dead end, she tried to break the wall, but a monster that was chasing her bit off her arm. Then the wall exploded, and that's when we met her.

It was a bizarre story, but I could tell it was important to brother's research in getting our bodies back. I returned to the present, and was shocked to see Julie actually transmute without a circle.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I snapped my right arm's fingers, and placed them on the ground. I transmuted some ninja stars (**shuriken**!) and kunais, and threw them. It was a good thing I lost my left arm. My right arm is the one that I use for things the most. The colonel dodged every single attack, and snapped his finger at me. I flipped in the air, landed on the ground, and charged at him. I ran diagonally, trying to evade the flames. I slid on the ground, narrowly missing getting hit in the face from the harsh flames. I continued to run straight at him. I snapped my fingers again, and planted them on the ground. I stood about 5 feet away from him, and felt was silence as nothing happened.

Mustang smirked, getting more comfortable with fighting with me. "What was that supposed to do?"

He raised his fingers, and said, "I think I won."

I flipped away, now about 15 feet away.

"I think not."

**BOOM!**

Suddenly, A huge geyser shot up and exploded underneath the colonel. It shot him up 20 feet in the air. Water continued to spew, with Mustang at the top, screaming. It looked like a broken fountain with a duck on top.

I grinned, and laughed. "That's what it was supposed to do."

**(Wondering what happened still? So when Julie snapped her fingers and Mustang asked what that was supposed to do, she was making a pipe that carried water develop underneath him. And when he was about to attack, Julie timed it to explode. Ta da! =D)**

I snapped my finger again, and stopped the water. I then transmuted a trampoline for the colonel to have a safe landing.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mustang got up and growled. "What was that?!"

"Water. It's your weakness, because it looks like your gloves produce flames. And if it's wet, it's not able to cause friction and change the density of the air to make flames." Julie said.

Mustang was shocked Julie was able to figure out how his gloves worked.

"YEAH, COLONEL! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?! HAHAHAHA!" Edward shouted at the top of his lungs.

Julie transmuted a lance and swung it at Mustang so that it was positioned at his neck. She turned to a shocked Hughes, and asked, "So...I win?" Hughes shook himself off, and announced, "**And the winner is Julie!**"

The crowd clapped and cheered, and Mustang and Julie walked off together. On her way out, she snapped her fingers again, fixed the ruined stage.

She rubbed her stump because it started to throb.

Ed grinned, and rubbed his cousin's head. "You beat the idiot colonel! Good for you!"

Julie grinned. Then she turned to the colonel and said, "Thanks for fighting with me."

She held out her hand to the dripping colonel. Mustang gave a reluctant smile, and shook her hand.

Then the Elrics and their cousin turned away, and decided to head to the nearest train station.

Suddenly, Julie turned around and shouted, "Mr. Hughes! Tell Elicia I said Happy Birthday!"

Hughes smiled and waved.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~Time Skip: 1 hour~*~*~*~*~*~

After leaving the cat in a safer place, the Elrics and their cousins left it behind and went to the nearest train station. After they purchased the tickets, They found a place to sit inside the train.

"So." Edward said. "How did you learn to transmute without a circle?" Julie tore her eyes away from the window and looked at her cousin.

"What?"

"Yeah. I noticed you can do alchemy without a circle." Alphonse said, joining in.

Julie sighed. "I don't know."

"Did you try human transmutation?" Ed asked with narrowed eyes.

"No. I studied a lot of stuff. I went almost through the entire world, collecting information, reading some filed on alchemy that my parents had in their bank accounts, looking at books in different libraries… and then suddenly one day, it just clicked. I understood how to do things. And I tried doing alchemy without a circle."

Ed and Al stared at each other in shock.

"But you snap your fingers, because brother claps his hands." Alphonse asked.

"I dunno. I tried clapping my hands, but it doesn't work for me." Julie answered.

"Well then, I'm going to take a nap. When we see Winry I hope she doesn't kill us." Edward muttered.

Al froze with his cute/scared chibi face on. "I hope she lost her wrench…"

Julie watched Ed, then turned to Al. "Winry's gotten scarier?"

Al trembled, and sweat poured off his face. "Don't remind me…"

***pant...pant...pant* whoa… I typed that entire chapter in 1 hour exactly. Woo…usually it takes me longer….**

**So I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know I changed a lot of it from the real storyline, but I kinda have to to get Julie to be able to fit in there...So review if you get that chance please! ^_^**

**Oh, and if you guys want and you like to draw, you can draw a picture of Julie. Whoever's picture I think looks the best gets...I don't know… A lifetime supply of their favorite internet cookie! And a chapter dedicated to them! ^_^ Here's a description:**

**Hair color: Black, tied in a high ponytail**

**Eye color: Blue**

**Clothes: Julie wears a blue tube top that matches her eyes. She wears black skinny jeans, White lace-up boots, and a white jean jacket.**

**Have you guys seen my profile picture? That's a picture of Julie's face that I drew. It's what I imagined her face to look like. Do you guys like it? =D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi people! I'm realizing that it's taking me longer and longer for me to finish chapters, so I feel bad about that...Actually, it's partially my teachers' faults. They're like "Oh! You missed an entire day of school for a field trip? Aww, that's too bad! Here, have some homework!" and then BAM! I. Drown. In. Homework. So just imagine Sheska when she worked in Hughes's office. So I'm really sorry...Actually I should be writing the story, not giving a long author's note to the readers and wasting time typing all this! Here's chapter 7, hope you enjoy it!**

"Julie. Hey, Julie? Juuullllie...Julie! Hey Julie! JULIE!" Edward shouted to a sleeping Julie.

Julie's eyes snapped open, and she sat up so fast her head smashed into Ed's nose.

"Augh!" Ed stumbled back, holding his nose.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" Julie exclaimed, and rubbed her eyes from sleeping.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Ed yelled. Julie scooted away from him on the train seat.

"Whoa, sorry, Ed."

"The reason why brother woke you up is because we're in Resembool now." Al explained.

"Oh." Julie looked around finally realizing that the train was stopped.

The cousins gathered their stuff (not that Julie has any) and headed to the exit.

"Hey, what time is it?" Julie asked, rubbing her stump.

"12:20" Edward answered. Julie frowned.

"How long did the train take to get here?" She asked.

"Dunno. I was asleep the entire time. All I know is that it took an entire day." Ed mumbled.

~*~*~*~*~*~*Time skip: 1 ½ Hours~*~*~*~*~*~

"Uh...my...legs~..." Julie moaned. "How far away?"

"Um...I think it's-" Al looked around. Suddenly, Ed shouted, "THERE! YEAH, WOO HOO!

WE'RE HERE!" Ed pointed madly at a house on a hill that was a couple miles away.

Julie grinned. "Still the same house, I see." The cousins walked faster, eager to get to the Rockbell's house.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Winry's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I looked up from the automail I was working on. Den was barking rapidly, and I knew that was a sign that someone was here. I walked over to the window, and saw golden hair and a gray suit of armor.

"Ed and Al's home!" I thought happily. Then I noticed them laughing at something. I stood on my tiptoes, pushing the curtain on the window farther away. Something...was on the ground. I squinted as I watched Edward lean down, still laughing, and pick up a..._girl?___A girl? Ed was helping a girl off the ground.

He was laughing with her now. Edward brought home a girl. A girl! Edward...did he bring home a GIRLFRIEND?! Without telling me?! I stood, open-mouthed in shock. Suddenly, I felt a weight on my chest. Was that...jealousy? I can't be jealous! I closed the curtain and stared blankly at the automail on the table. I don't even _like_ Edward. Or at least I think...No! I'm not jealous…

Ah! I don't know! I mentally threw my hands up in defeat, and stood up straight when the bell rang.

Jealous jealous jealous jealous jealous...I thought those words over and over with each step to the door. I clutched my wrench in my right hand, and opened the door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"So you won't tell me anything about Winry. And I really want to know how scary...or scarier she got." I muttered.

"Uh...when you meet her, watch your head." Ed said, and he and Al had a dejected aura around them.

I kicked the dust on the road as we walked. "I wonder if Winry will recognize me…"

"Probably. Girls tend to have better memory than boys." Edward said.

I kicked the dust again, but my foot got caught on something, and I face-planted on the ground with a splat.

Ed burst out laughing, and Al chuckled. Despite the pain in my face, I smiled through the dust at the sound of Ed's laughter. I had missed that sound. He leaned down and looped his arm around my waist, and pulled me upright.

I grinned, and couldn't help but laugh as well. Then I looked down at my clothes.

"Darn it! My jacket's all dirty now!" I wailed, looking at the tan dust on my white jacket.

We reached the door, and Ed reached for the doorbell. He hesitated, and turned to look at me and Al with sweat pouring off his face.

"A-Al...can you ring it? I want to protect my head…" Ed whimpered.

Al's armor trembled. "S-sure." He reached for the doorbell, and pressed it.

The boys waited in anticipation. Nothing happened, although I could hear a dog barking.

I snickered. "There's your dangerous attack." Ed blinked, and pulled his arms away from his head.

"Maybe she and Granny went to the grocery sto-"

WHACK!

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Ed and Al screamed, and Ed clutched his head in pain. A wrench had shot out from the now open doorway, and ricocheted off Ed's forehead.

Alphonse and I jumped out of the way, watching the door fearfully.

Suddenly, Winry stepped out of the door, flames in her eyes. I can see why the boys got so scared of her now…

"ED! HOW COULD YOU BRING HOME A GIRLFRIEND WITHOUT TELLING ME?!" Winry yelled...no...that's an understatement. More like screamed so loudly I'm surprised I eardrums didn't pop…

Winry chucked another wrench-where did she get another one?- at Edward, and her aim being accurate, slammed against Edward's poor head.

"HOW DARE YOU THROW A WRENCH AT ME WINRY!" Ed screamed. Jeez. These two have some powerful lungs…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"STOP BEING A WIMP! I CAN'T BELIEVE A SHORT LITTLE _MIDGET_ LIKE YOU COULD GET A GIRLFRIEND!"

"SHUT UP! I'M NOT SHORT! I JUST LIVE IN A BIG WORLD!"

"OH _SURE_! SO WHAT- DOES THAT MEAN I'M A GIANT IN YOUR WORLD?!"

"NO! I MEAN YES! I MEAN-JUST ALL YOU PEOPLE ARE FREAKISHLY TALL! AND WHY DON'T YOU START ACTING MORE LIKE A _GIRL_ AND STOP THROWING WRENCHES AT ME!"

"I WOULDN'T BE SO "FREAKISHLY TALL" COMPARED TO YOU IF YOU JUST _DRINK YOUR MILK_! AND I _AM_ A GIRL! _YOU'RE _THE ONE MAKING ME ACT LIKE THIS!"

"I HATE MILK! AND YOU'RE THE ONE WHO EVEN MADE ME START, SO IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

In the backround, Julie and Al had their confused chibi faces, as they looked back and forth between the two blondies. Occasionally, they had to duck as nuts and bolts and other metal objects were flung at them.

Winry pulled back her arm, which contained yet another wrench and threw it at Ed's head.

Julie took this chance, and her right arm shot out and caught the wrench in mid-air.

Ed and Winry froze, and slowly turned to Julie.

"Hey, guys, calm down. I'm not Edward's girlfriend." Julie said, timidly, and grew nervous underneath their stares.

Winry blinked, and Ed broke out into a smile.

"THANK YOU for saving me!" He cried out, and threw his arms around Julie. Julie's eyebrow twitched from Ed's sudden reaction, and she gently pushed him away.

"Winry...you don't remember me?" Julie asked, almost pleadingly.

"Should I?" Winry responded bluntly. Julie sighed, her shoulders dropping.

"Oh. Well, it's me, J-"

"WAIT, WHAT?!" Winry said, eyes wide, and she dropped the-another wrench?!- wrench that replaced the one that was deflected. Winry grabbed Julie's shoulders, scaring Julie.

"J-Julie…? Julie?! Is that you?! Julie... JULIE?! JULIE STONEHART?!" Winry asked.

Although Julie was a little weirded out by Winry's reaction, her face lit up with a smile.

"Yup!" Winry stared at Julie, and grabbed her into a tight hug.

"You-you're back…We were so worried about you…" Winry whispered. Ed and Al looked at each other, almost guiltily. Winry remembered their cousin, and they didn't. The worst part was Winry wasn't related to Julie, but the Elrics were...and yet they still didn't know who she was…

Suddenly, Winry pulled away from her, lightning-fast, yanked-ANOTHER WRENCH?!- a wrench from her tool belt that was currently hanging from Winry's waist and chucked it at Julie. This was the worst hit yet because they were only 4 feet apart, and with Winry's strength with working with metal all the time…**(._.')**...

"DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED WE WERE WHEN YOU SUDDENLY RAN AWAY AND THE MILITARY'S SEARCH PARTY COULDN'T FIND YOU AND WE THOUGHT YOU DIED BECAUSE THERE'S A 3% CHANCE A THREE YEAR OLD CAN SURVIVE ON HER OWN FOR I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY YEARS?!" Winry yelled, and the Elric brothers scooched away from her in fear.

Julie squeaked with pain as she flipped off the Rockbell's porch from the impact. She landed with a thud in the dirt. Julie held her head in her hand in between her knees and groaned.

"My...head…" She whimpered.

"AHHHH! WINRY! HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HER?!" Edward and Alphonse screamed.

Winry turned around and huffed. "If you guys can handle the wrench, then a girl like her could probably can."

"SHE WAS RECENTLY INJURED! SHE'S MISSING AN ARM!" Ed screamed.

Winry made a chibi-like "oops" face. Then she blinked.

"She's missing an arm? Then...then does she want automail?!" Winry asked, stars glittering in her eyes.

"I doubt she does now because you're such a violent gearhead." Ed huffed and turned around.

Big mistake. Winry beaned him on the head again with -another wrench…- a wrench and she and Al ran down the road to help Julie up.

Julie had slowly gotten up on her own, and wobbled as she walked back to the house.

"You...have a wicked throwing arm, Winry." Julie mumbled.

"Proud of it!" Winry exclaimed, and Julie and Edward sweat dropped.

"Hey, where's granny Pinako?" Alphonse asked.

"Went to get some groceries." Winry answered as she and the Elrics walked into the living room.

"Wow. Everything is the same." Julie observed the house as she rubbed her head. They all sat on a couch, each sitting across from one another.

"Yup. Hey, did you guys come here for Julie to get automail?" Winry asked.

"Yeah. Is that ok?" Julie answered.

"That's perfectly fine!"

"How long will it take?" Julie asked.

**(Sorry guys. I'm going to like totally mess up the automail procedures. Usually it takes three years to like set up the nerves and three days to make an automail arm, right? Well, I want Julie to be more part of Ed and Al's adventures, so I'm going to have it take two days for Julie to get automail...Sorry…)**

"Um...I'll make it for you in two days!" Winry exclaimed. Julie raised her eyebrows.

"Really? Thanks!"

"Wait, but it's going to be painful." Edward said, leaning forward.

"You got it." Julie gestures at his arm. "So I think I'll be able to do it."

"B-but two days! I don't think you'll be able to-" Alphonse said, worry etched in his voice.

"I'll be fine, guys...Don't worry about me too much." Julie smiled.

Winry grinned, and the doorbell rang.

"That must be Granny!" Winry rushed to open the door, and brought Pinako inside.

"Hey Granny! Look who came back!"

Pinako dropped her grocery bags and her usual pipe fell out of her mouth.

"J-Julie?!" Pinako exclaimed. Julie stood up and gave a shocked Pinako a one-armed hug.

"Hey there Granny. I'm back." Julie smiled, happy someone recognized her for the first time.

"B-but the military said there was no way for you to be found and you were probably dead!" Pinako said.

"Well, apparently, the military was wrong. Aren't you happy I'm back?" Julie asked.

"YES!...Now what happened to that arm of yours?"

"Oh...I got in an accident and that's when I ran into Ed and Al. I came to get automail."

**Ok….that wasn't a very good chapter...and I just realized Edward's vocabulary isn't very big when he describes the colonel and bad stuff that happens, so I might have to add some of those big boy words of his. (._.') I HATE cussing, but I guess I'll add some when necessary. I promise the next chapter will be better, and I'll work harder to get it out faster! Please review if you get the chance and tell me how I did! Oh, and thanks to Usabunny371 for favoriting!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey people! How are you? Here's chapter 8! I also want to say "THANK YOU SO MUCH!" to my two loyal reviewers, RoseGranger and Shadowen the Demon-shinigami! And thanks to nikkiegirl9087 and Stormywolf12 for favoriting! Thanks to Stormywolf12 and emachiin for following! And finally, THANK YOU SO MUCH for reviewing, emachiin! You guys are awesome, I'm so happy!**

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Pain. P-a-i-n. Pain. Like, described with the word ouch. I hate it. I hate pain.

I almost bit the pillowcase in half as Winry and Pinako worked on my nerves to get it setup for my automail. I writhed in agony while Winry tried to hold me down. The pain burned in my stump, and I tried not to scream so badly I passed out a couple times. There was one point when I thought I died. I mean I did. Or I was hallucinating from the pain. When Winry struck a nerve, I passed out, and landed in a completely white room. I looked around and saw my parents laughing and standing with a white figure. The white figure had black particles swirling around it with a wide grin stretched on his face. My parents, or at least they looked enough like me to be my parents, smiled and talked to the white being. I called to them, and my parents didn't hear me. But the white being did. He...she? He...oh, whatever-it looked at me, and it's grin stretched even further to a point I thought impossible, and I was brought back into reality.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 2 days*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~ ~ ~ ~ Normal POV ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Winry watched Julie move her automail arm around.

"Wow, Winry! This is amazing!" Julie flexed her fingers and stared at the metal. Winry grinned, stars shining in her eyes.

"Thanks! You're more grateful than Ed is." Winry laughed.

"Speaking of Ed...is that him, coming down the road?" Julie asked, and shielded her eyes with her flesh hand. Winry squinted, nodded, and slipped away.

Julie blinked and looked at the spot Winry was a second ago, and looked back down the road. Den suddenly shot out of the house, and knocked Julie over.

"Den! Hey!" Julie shouted. She picked herself up, and ran down the road. Julie was amazed that that tiny puppy with black and white fur that would yip and nibble at her feet when she was little became such a big, full grown dog with a deep bark. She grinned and met the Elrics with a flying hug.

"ED! AL! I got automaaaaaiiillllllll!" Julie said excitedly.

"Whoa!" Edward stumbled back a few steps. Julie let go and showed her cousin her new arm.

"See? Now I can go travel with you!" Julie hopped around the brothers. Edward and Alphonse looked at each other. They had never seen their cousin so...happy...

"Hey, Julie, I don't think it's a good idea for you to travel with us...you can get hur-" Al tried to persuade Julie, but Julie hopped up in his face and said, "I can fight! You saw me beat Mustang!"

Ed blinked, and he sighed. Their cousin was so cheerful, so might as well let her come along for a little.

"OK OK! We'll let you come with us, but if you get hurt, you can't come with us again, got that?" Ed told her, sounding like a father scolding his daughter.

"And just to warn y-"

WHAM!

"AAAAHHH! WINRRYYYY!" Ed yelled when a wrench bounced off his forehead.

"Hey Edward! Welcome home!" Winry shouted from the porch, feigning innocence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 1 Day~*~*~*~*~*~

**(I'm going to totally mess up the order of events...sorrrryyyy…..)**

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I pulled her bag towards myself. Winry had packed inside some clothes and I packed some weapons I made out of transmutation.

Ed, Al, and I stepped off the train. It was raining in Central, so I transmitted an umbrella for Ed and I to share. We walked through an alley, and Ed and Al looked up when they heard some gunshots.

Suddenly, a man with dark hair, some where white, ran by.

"Dr. Marcoh!" Ed called. The man, Dr. Marcoh, stopped and turned around. There was a look of fear on his face. Al and I turned around, and saw a….an Ishvalan? The man raced towards Dr. Marcoh. He pulled his arm back, and red alchemical light sparked around his arm. Al lunged forward, and stopped him.

"Al!" Ed shouted. I was so confused that I dropped my bag on the floor. What was going on?

The man spun around, and said, "You are the one in a hollow suit of armor!" The Ishvalan suddenly blew Alphonse's body.

"AL!" Ed and I shrieked. Ed shot forward, and began to fight the man. I noticed he had an "X" shaped scar on his face.

When I stepped forward to help, the man blew up Edward's automail arm. Ed flew back, and landed on the ground.

"Ed!" I yelled, and I leapt at the man.

"You're an Ishvalan!" I said, and threw a kick at the man.

He blocked.

"Who are you?" the ishvalan growled.

"None of _your_ business! They're my cousins, leave them alone!" I snapped my fingers and pressed them onto the wall. Spikes shot out, but the man leapt over them and landed by Ed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Normal POV ~ ~ ~ ~~

Scar reached down, ready to kill Ed. Ed stared up at Scar in fright.

Julie raced forward with a flying kick. She transmuted some shurikens and kunai and threw them at Scar. She tried to punch him, but each attack was dodged by the nimble Ishvalan.

"Little girls like you who get in my way deserve to be punished!" Scar growled and lunged at Julie, who stumbled back. He grabbed her automail arm with his destructive arm, but Julie grabbed his shoulders, slammed her foot into his stomach, flipped backwards, and slammed him onto the ground.

"Brother! Julie! Get out of here!" Al yelled, and he was currently unable to move because his half his entire body was disintegrated.

Scar picked himself up, and as Ed struggled to stand, Scar attacked him.

"NO! ED!" Julie somehow reached Edward, and she dove in front of him. Scar took this chance and leaned down. He grabbed Julie's right leg, and-

BOOM.

Julie's eyes widened as she landed with a thud. She hit the ground, and blood splattered everywhere. Pain flooded into her body as she stared, open-mouthed at nothing. "Not again!" She screamed in her mind.

"JULIE!" Edward screamed. Flecks of Julie's blood dripped off Ed's face. Ed stood up quickly, and prepared to fight Scar. **(I know, I know. Julie had just gotten her automail, but now she has to go back in the hospital bed again…=_=)**

Suddenly, there were gunshots. Ed turned his head and saw Lieutenant Hawkeye and the rest of Mustang's team. Scar blew up the ground and escaped to the sewers.

"Fullmetal! Are you ok?" Mustang asked as he jogged over.

"Edward! Ju- Oh my gosh." Riza's eyes widened when she saw Edward's arm and Alphonse's remains. Julie struggled to get up as blood dripped from the missing left leg.

She trembled for a bit in a halfway-push-up position before collapsing. Mustang jogged over to Julie.

"Julie? Are you alright?" Mustang picked her up and had Hughes, who had suddenly appeared after hiding during the battle with Scar, call for an ambulance. As Mustang had her lean up against the alley wall, and as he wrapped her leg to try to stem the flow, Julie gritted her teeth.

"CRAP! I can't believe I lost another limb in less than a week!" Julie screeched, and she punched a nearby trashcan. It left a large dent, and Mustang was glad his face wasn't there.

Julie and Mustang heard a commotion over by Alphonse and Edward. Apparently, Alphonse had punched Ed for not running away. Suddenly, Al's arm fell off, and he screamed at Ed, saying it was all his fault. They both got quiet, and Ed muttered some calm, kind words to Al. Mustang sighed.

"Those boys have such a strong bond." Colonel Mustang muttered, still kneeling by Julie's side. Julie nodded with a smile, but it was wiped of her face when pain overtook her and the world spun upside down.

She fainted, and she could hear the military and her cousins panicking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip~*~*~*~*~*~

Julie got released from the hospital (again….*sigh*) and were at the military base. She sat in a wheelchair and watched in amusement as Major Armstrong began to sparkle. He didn't have his shirt on, and he was showing off his muscles as he offered to fix Alphonse's armor.

"I shall fix you up nice and pretty, Alphonse!" Armstrong announced, and a laugh popped out of Julie's mouth.

Suddenly, Mustang entered the room with Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"Fullmetal is the only one who knows the method of bonding a soul to armor." Mustang said.

"So...he's now nothing but a smart-mouthed brat then, is he?" Havoc observed. Ed grew silent.

"I need to go to my mechanic to repair my arm, so that I can fix Al." Ed muttered. Mustang thought for a moment.

"But I can't just let you travel on your own with Scar running around. You need someone to go with you." Mustang said. Mustang's team blinked. They all shouted that they can't possibly protect the boys from a killer that was almost able to kill the Elrics and their cousin. Then Armstrong leapt in.

"Then I SHALL ESCORT THE ELRIC BROTHERS TO THEIR HOME!" Armstrong said, and Julie almost died with laughter. Julie was amazed at the sparkles that seemed to appear everytime he gets like that…

Ed twitched. "We don't need escorts like little defenseless kids!"

"Edward, what if Scar shows up again?" Hawkeye asked.

"Then we'll fight him-" Ed growled. Julie snorted.

"-When you are all repaired. Do you really think you can win a fight with a man-Scar, was it?- who runs around and explodes stuff like it's Fourth of July? Like, Ed, I don't want to sound like a parent, but you need someone to watch you guys. There's no way you can carry Al in your state to safety if you seriously do run into Scar...and I can't fight either." Julie intervened, and Ed frowned.

"Children should listen to adults! And even your cousin who is younger than you agrees!" Armstrong said, and leaned close to Ed, scaring him.

"WE DON'T NEED AN ESCORT! AND WE'RE NOT KIDS! We'll be fine, Julie!" Ed yelled.

"Al! Tell them that we're not kids!" Ed turned to Al, but Al suddenly had tears of joy spewing from his eyes.

"Brother! This is the first time anyone has treated me like a child since I got this body!" Al cried.

Ed stared in utter bewilderment.

"Well then! Shall we get packing?" Armstrong asked.

~*~*~*~*~Time Skip: 1 Hour 30 minutes~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~ ~ ~ ~ Edward's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Hey, I'm going to go check on Al, ok?" I stood up and stretched. My poor head rang from Armstrong's rambling about perfection, his family, responsibility, and generations. It was SO annoying. Julie nodded, and she had a half-dead look on her face from all of Armstrong's speeches.

I walked to the part of the part of the train that held Al's body parts. Armstrong put him with the livestock, much to my annoyance. I opened the door, and peered inside.

"Hey, Al?" I called. No answer. "Al? Alll? A~L? Hey, Al? Al?" I tried again. Oh, crap. I raced back to the part of the train that held passengers.

"AL GOT DROPPED OFF AS SOMEONE ELSE'S LUGGAGE AT THE LAST STOP!" I yelled. I startled Julie who was finally able to sleep.

Her eyes snapped open, and she shot up straight. She quickly threw my jacket to me that was next to her, and shoved the window open. How did she read my mind? I grabbed my coat and got ready to jump out the window, but Armstrong took hold of my pant leg.

"Wait. We can go back at the next stop." I sighed, although I wanted to go back for Al. I plopped back on my seat. Julie's head bobbed with exhaustion, and she fell asleep. her head slid and landed on my shoulder. I was tempted to move her head, but decided not to. Armstrong had a couple tears flowing from his eyes.

"What a sweet little image." Major Armstrong said softly. I rolled my eyes, and thought about Al.

**Sorry, I took such a long time to update. I was like, all weekend, like "OH MY GOSH. I NEED TO UPDATE. LIKE NOW." but I don't have my own laptop, and it was 2:00 in the morning. So the fact that I didn't have another chapter within 3-4 days was bothering me sooooo much. 0_0 I feel like really bad for having Julie get hurt again, in like, less than a week. Buuut….that was the only way I could get in her losing another limb from an attack from Scar. Oh, and I'm not the best at fighting scenes since this is my first Fanfiction story ever, but I hope you at least understood what happened...but I hope you enjoyed it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, people! ^_^ Yay, chapter 9! I almost have 10 chapters up! Just a warning, I'm gonna skip the events that lead to getting Al back. Anyways, hope you like this chapter! Oh, and THANK YOU Akumu Michi for favoriting and following and THANK YOU to Dreamer372 for reviewing! I'm also gonna kinda combine this with the Brotherhood storyline…...sorta...yeah.**

Ed grunted as he helped Julie climb the tall hill in her wheelchair. Major Armstrong carried Al, and decided to carry Julie while Ed pushed an empty wheelchair.

~*~*~*~*~*Winry's POV*~*~*~*~*

I grinned at the squeaking of metal and the smell of oil. I grabbed my wrench, and froze when Granny yelled "Hey, Winry! Our honored guests are here!" I tucked my wrench into my belt and bolted to the porch. I pulled the door open to the porch and launched my wrench. Bull's eye.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"WINRY! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!" Ed screamed.

"ED! I JUST SAY YOU A COUPLE DAYS AGO, AND WHEN YOU COME BACK, YOUR AUTOMAIL IS MESSED UP!" Winry screamed back.

They entered the house, and Winry met them by a couch.

"ED!" Winry yelled so loudly that Julie felt the house tremble.

"HOW COULD YOU RUIN YOUR AUTOMAIL! IT WAS MY BEST ONE EVER!"

"Uh…" Ed smiled nervously and scratched his head.

"AND LOOK AT AL! YOU CAN BARELY RECOGNIZE HIM, HE'S SO BUSTED UP!" Winry snapped her head around, and her expression softened as she saw Julie. Then anger clouded her face again.

"You lost a leg. In less than a week." Winry growled. Julie used her foot to push away from Winry's wrath.

"Uh...heh?" Julie said.

"What exactly have you guys been up to?" Winry groaned.

"Um...Well…" Al said, nervously. Granny examined Ed's feet.

"Well, well. I guess you're not such a pipsqueak. Looks like you've grown some. You need another foot, too." Granny observed. Ed watched her check the sizes of his foot.

"Hm. Can you manage that in less than a month?"

"Well...Julie needs automail, and that will take a couple days. You need another arm and leg, so...how 'bout a week?" Pinako grinned, and pulled her pipe from her mouth.

Winry squinted her eyes at them. (Julie and Armstrong kind of blended into the background by now.)

"Why are you in such a rush?"

"We want to get to central as soon as possible because we have something important to do." Al answered. Winry raised her wrench threateningly.

"Not something dangerous, right?" Winry asked, waving her wrench. Al froze, and trembled inside his crate.

"Uh-N-no….no…"

"Nothing! Nothing, it's really nothing!" Edward said, nervously smiling. Winry sighed, and walked away, preparing the automail.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ed walked back and forth, getting used to his replacement leg while Winry worked on his new automail.

Ed flopped onto his back onto the grass with Den. Julie eased herself down onto the grass and began to weave little dolls out of the grass. This reminded her of when she was little, as she watched her cousins play.

Al was wrapped in some cloth so that his parts will be kept together. He leaned against a barrel, and was quiet.

"Brother...you should pay a visit to mom's grave." Al suddenly spoke up. Ed blinked.

"Hmmm...I guess I will. There's nothing to do here, anyway."

"I'll stay here, brother." Al said. Ed nodded, and stood up.

"Hey, Ed. I'll come with you. I feel bad for not being at her funeral, and worrying her more when I ran away." Julie said. Ed looked at his cousin, then helped her sit back on her wheelchair. They left with flowers in their hands, Den followed them too, and Al watched them leave.

Long the road as Ed pushed Julie's wheelchair, they ran into some of Ed's old school friends.

"Oh, hey Ed! You're back! I heard you worked as a state somethin, right?" One of the boys asked. "Wow, you're still really short. You sure you're drinkin' you're milk?" The boy asked. Ed snapped.

" STOP SAYING I'M SHORT!" Ed screamed at their faces, but they just laughed.

One of them stopped, and stared at Julie who was watching her cousin.

"Whoa, Ed. You bring a girlfriend back from your travels?" He asked.

"Wh-what? Oh, no, I'm his cousin." Julie said, laughing. The boy blinked.

"Cousin? You had a cousin, Ed? Huh. She's pretty cute." The boy observed, making Julie blush.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV ~ ~ ~ ~

We finally arrived at the grave. I stared at the words on my aunt's stone.

_Trisha Elric_

_Beloved mother and wife_

"Mother….and wife. No aunt. Nothing about her being an aunt. Nothing." I thought. I looked at the other gravestones. _Holly Silver, beloved daughter, wife, sister, aunt, cousin, and niece. Jake Matrix, beloved son, father, cousin, uncle, husband, nephew, and brother. Lisa Mills, sister, mother, wife, aunt. _

Nothing about Trisha being an aunt, sister to my father. I frowned, and couldn't help feel that I don't belong. I was jolted from my feelings when I saw Den nudge Ed on his foot. It turns out Ed had zoned out as well. We returned home in silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~Time Skip: The Next Day~*~*~*~*~*~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Ok! Ready to connect the nerves?" Winry announced. She and Pinako stood by Ed, hand on a crank on his new automail.

"One...Two….Three!" Pinako and Winry chanted together. Ed waited with anticipation, and Julie watched with interest.

BZZZZT!

Ed clenched his teeth as the nerves connected. Ed moaned from the pain as he staggered over to a couch to lay on.

"Whew…" Winry stretched, and turned to Julie. "Your turn!" Julie whimpered, wishing that this time getting the automail surgery wouldn't be so bad.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Al played with his fingers as he sat, feeling lonely, in the corner of the bedroom. He was worried for his cousin, and he could hear small screams coming from the automail surgery room. Ed was asleep, but Al wasn't able to because his body didn't allow it. Al trembled each time he heard Julie scream.

~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 3 Days*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Julie stretched, and tried standing on her new leg. She stood, and wobbled. Armstrong stood by her side, making sure she didn't fall.

"Julie. I don't think it's safe for you to travel with us." Ed approached Julie, and Julie frowned.

"Please Ed? It was my own fault I got hurt, and I'll make sure I'll be safe!" Julie argued.

"I don't want you to get hurt! Look, you already did, and I don't want to lose another family member. Al and I are big targets for bad guys, and I don't want you to get caught up in all this. You're the last family member I have, and I won't be able to forgive myself if you get killed when you're travelling with us." Ed said. Julie took a step towards him and looked at him in the eyes.

**(They're the same height, and Julie's 2 years younger than him.) **

"I'll be more aware of what to expect. And I can take care of myself. I lost a leg, but I was able to replace it. Ed, you can't tell me what to do. If I want to go along with you, I will. If you don't want me to, too bad. I'm still going with you. If I die, don't blame yourself, because it's my choice and I'm not backing down on it." Julie said. Armstrong watched them with interest as they argued.

"Ah, your kindness and love towards one another is just so heartwarming!" Armstrong cried aloud, sparkles flying off him. Julie and Ed sweat-dropped as they stared at one another. Julie glared at Ed.

"I'm coming with you, Edward, and I'm-falling!" Julie took a step back, but she slipped on the wheels of the wheelchair with her automail leg. She landed with a thud on her bottom, and

Major armstrong and Ed attempted to catch her, but missed.

"Ow…" Julie muttered. Armstrong smiled, and Ed snickered, which turned to a chuckle, that turned to loud, happy laughs. Julie grinned, and waited for Edward's answer.

"Ok….fine," Ed said, after taking a deep breath.

"YAY!" Julie hopped up from the ground and tackled him with a hug.

**Sorry, that was a short chapter. I was really busy because Thanksgiving is coming up and it was my mom's b-day recently. My older brother was hogging the computer because he has tons of projects, and we share a computer….so yeah…(._. ) I don't think was a very good chapter. Nothing fun happened….. but please review if you get the chance. AND I GOT 10 REVIEWS! I'M SO HAPPY! THANK YOU RoseGranger for being the 10th reviewer!**


	10. SIDE STORY, PEOPLE

**Hi guys! I decided to do a birthday special for Alphonse, so I hope you like it. This takes place after Al gets his body back, sorry, I know I skipped like a couple years of important events, but this is only a SIDE STORY. Just an idea that popped in my head. I really don't know when his birthday is, so if any of you guys know I would love to know. I just thought Al looked like a November baby...  
**  
Julie raced through the streets, panting. She was late for Alphonse's birthday party!

She leaped over carts and sometimes people, and tripped over an apple stand. The stand fell over and crashed, apples bouncing everywhere.

The shopkeeper screamed and yelled at Julie, but she ignored him, snapped her fingers, and repaired the cart, apples and all. She kept up her pace, leaving a surprised shopkeeper.

Julie grinned, but her smile wiped off her face when she saw a mother give a toy to her daughter. Oops.

~*~*~*~*~*Julie's POV~*~*~*~*~*~

I grabbed my head in exasperation. I. FORGOT. ALPHONSE'S. BIRTHDAY. GIFT! I hated myself for forgetting, all I was focused on was showing up!

"Aah!" I panicked, looked around, and felt a flood of relief when I saw a cute pet store. I sprinted inside, and found EXACTLY what I was looking for. Truth must be feeling happy today.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Normal POV~~*~~*~*~*~~**

"Hey, brother? Do you know where Julie is?" Alphonse said as he looked out through the Rockbell's window.

"No...I wonder what's taking so long." Ed answered as he tried to get the matches to light to light the candles.

Alphonse walked to the couch and sat down. "I hope she'll be here soon."  
"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be here any second." Riza assured Al.

"I hope anything didn't happen to her..." Roy muttered, knowing her and her cousin's knack of getting into trouble.

"Well...maybe we should start without her?" Winry suggested.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and Alphonse rocketed off the couch to get the door.  
"HI JULIE!" he exclaimed excitedly once he opened the door.

"Hi birthday boy!" Julie said, matching his enthusiasm. Julie anted from running up the hill to reach the house witha five pound bag on top of a large carboard box. Mustang, Riza, Havoc, Elicia, Gracia, Breda, Falman, Ed, Granny Pinako, Paninya, Winry, and a whole bunch of people that they met through their travels chorused a

"hello".  
Julie waved, and set down the heavy present.

"Is that...is that for me?" Alphonse asked excitedly. Julie laughed.  
"Yup, but you hve to open it last, ok?"

"Lets lihght the candles!" Al said, and plopped himslef in fron of the large cake that had a picture of a kitty iced on. This was Julie's doing,, and she did it before the cake was picked up.

"We will, but only if the matche light!" Ed said, frustrated, and he threw another used match over hs shoulder.  
"Must you ask for fire as if I'm not here?" Roy leaned forward with a smirk.

"Shut up, you stupid colonel! We don't need your he-uh oh." Ed sweat dropped as he relized there was no more matches.

"You were saying, pipsqueak?" Mustang snapped his fingers and lit the candles.  
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A-"  
"Hooray! The candles are lit!" Al cheered, trying to stop them.

The party members sang happy birthday to Al, and he happily blew the candles out.

After the cake was cut and handed to everyone, Al set his cake aside and grabbed the presents. He reached for  
Julie's gift, and Julie quickly swallowed her mouthful of cake.

"Hey-*cough*- hey, wait Al! I said that one last!" Julie said. Al pouted.  
"No! Open my gift last!" Ed exclaimed.  
"Mine"  
"No, mine"  
"MINE. LAST."  
"OPEN MINE LAST!"  
"DONT LISTEN TO YOUR BROTHER AL! OPEN MINE LAST!"  
"HEY, THAT'S NOT FAIR! MINE L-"

BANG! The two bickering cousins closed their mouths and cowered underneath the Hawk's Eyes.

"JULIE'S LAST. EDWARD SECOND." Riza growled. Ed flinched, and the room stared at them.  
"Fine." he muttered. Riza smiled.

"You can continue now, Alphonse." And Al happily obliged.

Each present made Al happier and he reached the last two, Al couldn't contain his excitement.

He opened a box from Ed similar to Julie's and gasped.

He lifted a kitten out of the box. It had black fur with blue-gray stripes on its back with white paws. It purred and snuggled into Al's arms.

"You got him a cat?" Julie asked in suprise.  
"Yup." Ed said with a smile. Julie smiled to herself. "I guess Ed's going to have more cats around him than he thought..." Julie thought.

"Thank you brother!" Al said, and with the cat still in his arms, reached over nd began to open Julie's gift.

Alphonse's eyes glittered with excitement, and he pulled out two kittens. Everyone craned their necks to see what the big fuss about giong las was about.

"Awww! Look at that those cute little kitties!" Fuery cooed. Mustang's team looked at him blankly.

"More kittens!" Al cheered, while Ed groaned and put his head in his hands.

"Sorry, Ed. I didn't think you'd actually decide to finally get Alphonse a cat..." Julie said with a smile. The three kittens played together.

The two kittens from Julie snuggled against Al and purred. One was bigger than the rest, and had gray fur with dark gray stripes. The second one from Julie had golden fur and red stripes. This one was smaller than all the other kittens.

Julie blinked and watched the cats.

"Hey, is it just me or do they remind you of Ed and Al? Like the gray one is you, Al, when you were in that suit of armor, and the gold one with red stripes is like Ed, kinda small-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLLING SMALL?!" Ed yelled, and a kitten fell out of Al's lap in surprise. The cat with red stripes that resembled Edward hissed, and looked offended that he was called small. The party guests laughed, and that reaction was somewhat similar to Ed's.

"Hey, I said you were kinda small, not a short little midget." Julie explained. Ed twitched.  
"You're still calling me small!"

"OK! FINE! Geez. YOU ARE JUST vertically constipated." Julie said, exasperatedly. All the party guests erupted in laughter. Ed blinked. "Um…ok?"

"Oh as I was saying, the last one with grayish blue stripes on black fur with white paws is kind of like...me. Julie observed.

There was a moment of silence as people noticed the resemblance.

"Oh yeah...it kind of does." Havoc said in a thoughtful tone. Al grinned, his heart filling with so much love for his cousins and the people around him.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY!" Alphonse exclaimed, and Julie noticed his eyes got a little wet.  
"Happy Birthday, Al!" Everyone chorused.

**So...how did you like it? ^_^ **

**HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (Well, that's what it is for the people in the U.S.)**


	11. Chapter 11

**YAAAAY! I got over 15 reviews I'm so happyyyyyyyyy! ^.^ Thank you lilaclily00 for reviewing, and thanks to 1000meredith and Angel7109 for favoriting and following and thank you lilaclily00 for following! ^_^ Hey, and since I'm still new and stuff, I have some questions to ask, and I'll put them on the bottom of the page. Oh, and I think I'm supposed to put a disclaimer? …..I don't know what that is. (._.')...but obviously I don't own Fullmetal alchemist...if I did, it wouldn't be as popular….so yeah. Sorry this chapter took so long. I'm dying trying to study for midterms, and I'm terrible at math, so I'm stressssed!**

**WARNING: I'M SWITCHING TO BROTHERHOOD STORYLINE**

Julie stretched and yawned. She sighed and looked around the living room with a dazed expression on her face. She stood up from the couch she had slept on and walked to the kitchen. She wobbled with each step.

"Geez, having almost my entire left side be metal is really weird." Julie muttered. She began to make breakfast when Al came into the kitchen.

"Hey. Good morning!" Julie said with a smile.

"Hey." Al answered, and together, they prepared a meal for their slumbering friends.

~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 1 Hour~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Thanks for everything, Granny." Julie said and she pulled her jacket on. Pinako nodded with a smile, and the boys and their cousin headed down the road.

Suddenly, an exhausted-looking Winry raced to the porch, and shouted, "Hey, guys! Come back soon, ok?" Ed smiled, and nodded. Julie waved, and they were on their way again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*Back In Central…~*~*~*~*~*~

Ed collapsed to his knees in utter shock.

"Oh, nooooooooooo" He wailed. "ALL OF DOCTOR MARCOH'S RESEARCH IS-IS-IT'S ALL _GONE_!" Julie leaned down and poked her fingers into a pile of ashes. She brought it up close to her face and frowned.

"It's all ashes." She muttered. Al picked up a charred book that crumbled away in his hand.

"Wait….but why do you need these notes? I mean, will they help you in any way?" Julie frowned as she peered at the piles of ash and charred books. Ed slammed his hand into the ground.

"We're trying….to get out original bodies back. I want Al to have his body back, and the only way is a Philosopher's Stone. Dr. Marcoh had some notes that could help us find one, and they were at the Central library. But as you can _SEE_, IT GOT BURNED _DOWN!_" Edward growled, and Armstrong blinked, feeling uncomfortable and left-out. Julie turned her eyes up to the sky.

"Oh...but-" Julie started, but was interrupted by some voices behind Major Armstrong.

"Hello, Major Armstrong." Julie, Al, Ed, and Armstrong turned. \

"Ah, hello, second lieutenant Ross and Sergeant Brosh." Armstrong said, sparkling.

"We are ordered to watch the Elric brothers in your place." Maria and Denny said together. Armstrong nodded, producing more sparkles, and stepped away. Ed clutched his head with exasperation.

"As soon as I think I'm free of bodyguards, they replace them with more?!" Ed yelled.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time SKip~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We all climbed into a military car while Lieutenant Ross explained about a woman who worked at the library. She drove with Brosh in the passenger seat, and the cousins in the back. I was really squished from Al's armor and squeaked whenever his spikes poked my face. It really hurt because, like duh, he's a real suit of armor. Sergeant Brosh kept glancing at Al.

"Um...is something wrong?" Al asked, noticing his stares.

"No...it's just that I'm wondering why you wear that suit of armor." Brosh said, innocently. As soon as those words popped out of his mouth, I noticed Al and Ed began to sweat. Armor...can sweat…?

"Uh...um...gaaah….It's a hobby." They said quickly, obviously nervous. I had to hit my head against the glass window to keep from passing out from laughter. I saw the two military bodyguards put their heads together and whisper suspiciously.

"N-nice view outside, huh Al?" Ed said randomly as he tried to change the subject.

"Y-yeah, brother. It's gorgeous." Al chimed in. I decided to save them and randomly said,

"LOOK! A HUSKEY!" Maria swerved with surprise, and it broke up their little conversation. I started (rambling) talking about dogs...and Al shot me a grateful look.

We arrived at this apartment, and as soon as we entered it, I tripped over a pile of thick books. I tried to catch myself by grabbing yet another pile of books that crashed on top of me. Maria and Brosh snickered, and tried hiding it while I blushed and tried to fix the books. Ed and Al peered over mountains of books that filled the apartment. There were books stacked on tall shelves or on the floor so that it almost looked like it was made of books.

~ ~ ~ ~ Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Dang. Those are a LOT of books." Ed said. Maria pushed some books aside, and called, "Miss Sheska? Are you there?"

"Does someone even live here? I mean, look at all those books!" Brosh observed. Suddenly, a desperate-sounding voice floated over the books.

"Is someone there?" Al carefully walked through the books, searching for the source of sound. He leaned closer to a pile of books that seemed to have collapsed. There was a hand sticking out, and Julie noticed it, too.

"Brother! Someone under there!" Al cried out, and everyone dug like crazy. Julie threw a book behind her shoulder and accidently knocked Al's head off his shoulders, and he gave a "Julie!"

She giggled, but jammed his head back on before Maria and Brosh saw Al's empty armor. Julie turned to find a young woman, kneeling on the ground. She had brown hair, bangs, and square glasses.

"Thank you so much!" She exclaimed, and bowed. Ed blinked and pushed a book aside.

"Um….are you Sheska?" He asked. She nodded.

"Did you work in the library?" Julie asked, leaning forward. Sheska suddenly started sparkling, and Julie thought for a moment that either she and Major Armstrong were related, or Armstrong was nearby and shedding his daily sparkles.

"Oh, the library? I love books so much, and the job was the best." Sheska said with a wistful tone. Julie watched as Sheska's happy, dreamy attitude turned around so that she had a dejected aura around her.

"But I enjoyed the job so much all I ever did was read, so they…...fired…...me…" She said.

"Uh, excuse me, but I have something to ask. Do you remember some research written by a man named Tim Marcoh?" Ed asked. Sheska pushed her glasses up in a thoughtful way.

"Let's see….Oh, yes! There were some handwritten notes in a bookshelf that they didn't belong in." Sheska said excitedly. Her glasses glittered with recognition. Ed and Al became excited for a moment, but depressed when they realized it was probably burned down along with the library.

"Do...you want to read them? Is that why you are here?" She asked. Julie and her cousins stood up.

"Yeah, but they were burned up. Thanks for your time, though." Julie said. Sheska innocently blinked, and pointed to herself.

"I remember everything that was inside the notes. Would that help at all?" She asked. Julie froze, and they spun around.

"H-huh?!" the boys exclaimed together.

"I'm able to remember everything I read…" Sheska said.

"Are you serious?!" they shouted again, and Julie and Sheska took a step away from them in surprise.

"It'll take a while, but I'll write them out for you." Sheska offered, and Julie's cousins almost cried with happiness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 5 Days~*~*~*~*~*~

"All done!" Sheska cheered, and dropped about a 2 feet high stack of papers on a table.

"Whoa...unbe-_lievable_!' Julie whispered in awe. Ed and Al started shuffling through the papers.

"1000 Easy Recipes by Tim Marcoh!" Sheska said, cheerfully. Maria and Brosh looked confused.

"Oh, great. So we came all the way here and waited five days for a cookbook." Maria muttered in disbelief.

"Are you sure this is a perfect copy of Tim Marcoh's notes?" Ed asked. Sheska nodded, and Edward smirked.

"Thank you very much. You are really incredible." He said, and turned away.

'Let's go to the library and look at the notes." Julie said, and the Elrics nodded. Maria and Brosh stayed in the background, trying to see the real meaning of the paused, pulled a book out of his pocket, wrote something on it, and slapped it down in front of a confused Sheska.

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this." He turned to Maria and said, "Please withdraw this amount of money from my account using this." He handed his pocketwatch and ID to Maria, who accepted it. They left, and Julie turned with a happy smile and waved goodbye. Sheska returned the gesture and looked at the check. Both of the female's mouths dropped open.

"WHOOOAAAA! HOW CAN HE HAVE SO MUCH MONEY?!" They shrieked.

~*~*~*~*~**~*~*Time Skip~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They returned to the library-the one that wasn't burnt down-. Brosh examined the books, confused that the notes were just a plain old cookbook. Julie had a thick pile of papers in her lap at her spot on the floor. She was silent as she turned each page, but her mind was spinning with code words and was translating them so fast she had to stare at a page and read slowly so that they words could absorb into her head, not bounce around. Her cousins had underestimated her and said that she can look at them, but she might not be able to solve it. Julie tuned her cousin's awed voices out and laid some papers out in a line.

~*~*~~*~*Time Skip: 2 Hours later~*~*~*~*~*~

Ed slammed his head onto the table.

"Why are these notes so hard to figure out?!" Ed moaned. Al set his papers down.

"Maybe we should ask Dr. Marcoh, brother." He said.

"No way! That means we're admitting defeat!" Ed said with determination in his voice.

Julie eyed her cousins as she turned another page. She had papers circling around her where she was sitting, and was leaning against a bookshelf. She turned her head when she heard a door open.

Sheska entered, and said, "Excuse me…"

Edward and Alphonse turned and looked at Sheska.

"Oh, hi Sheska!" Ed said.

"Thanks...for the money that you gave me. I was able to send my mother to a much better hospital, and I really appreciate it!" Sheska smiled. Julie pushed her pile of papers from her lap and stood up and stretched.

"And I want to thank you again for making me feel better about myself, and that I'm not a completely useless being." Sheska said with another bow. Julie grinned.

"You're not useless! You have an amazing memory, you're nice, you like books, and being able to read so many books at a time and still be able to memorize everything you read is so cool! You shouldn't think so low of yourself, because that's not what we think of you." Julie said. Sheska smiled timidly.

"Thanks you, Julie."

Brosh yawned and leaned against the wall. He turned at the sound of footsteps, and stood up looked around the hall and saw a cheerful man coming his way.

**That wasn't much of an exciting chapter, but I hope you'll stick around for the next one!**

**So here are my questions: What is OCs(is that like Own Character?), OTPs, polls, AU's, and most of all-YAOI's. Or Royai's….And if you want to give me more information like other acronyms that stand for stuff and help me out of my confusion I would love it! Thanks for reading! ^_^**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi! Here's the next chapter! Thank you Angel7109 for answering some of my questions in the previous chapter, and congratulations for being the 20th reviewer! And THANK YOU lilaclily00, Dreamer372, RoseGranger, and 1000meredith for reviewing on my side story!**

Suddenly, the door behind Sheska burst open and Hughes walked in with his hand up as a sign of greeting.

"Yo!" Sheska turned and looked over her shoulder.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." Ed said in a suprised tone. Julie saw Maria and Brosh saluting behind him. She noticed them whispering together after Ed and Hughes began talking to one another.

"Hey, we had a lot of cases to deal with, and we've been real busy. We're still working on the Tucker situation as well." Hughes sat down in a chair and continued talking. "And to make matters worse, the First Branch burned down, and all the case records were stored there."

Ed and Julie looked at one another while Al looked at both of them and then they all turned back to Sheska. Sheska blinked innocently.

"Well, Lieutenant Colonel, I think I've got someone who would be perfect for the job." Edward said with a grin.

"Well...I have read all the military case records, and I remember them all…" Sheska said. Hughes's face lit up and he grabbed Sheska's arm.

"That's all I need to hear! You're hired!" He dragged poor Sheska away while she thanked the brothers. Julie snorted as she climbed into a chair from the floor, and muttered, "Kidnapper." Ed snickered, and they all turned back to their notes.

*~*~*~*~*~*~Time Skip: 2 hours~*~*~*~*~

Al walked to the table with a stack of books. He noticed Julie was reading the notes with her neck at an awkward angle and her ponytail was covering the side of her face.

"Hey, Julie, why don't you get in a more comfortable position? Doesn't your neck hurt?" Al asked. Julie didn't answer. With his books still in his hand, he leaned forward and touched her hair. Her ponytail moved, and Al noticed Julie had fallen asleep sitting up. If Al had a body, you would have been able to see him grin. Al stood up straight and decided to wake her up so she can sleep more comfortably when Ed startled him.

Ed suddenly jerked up and slammed his foot onto his chair and screamed, throwing papers around him. Al got startled and dropped his stack of books he was carrying with a BAM! and screamed. Julie flung her head up in shock from all the screaming and slamming that startled her from her little nap.

She slipped off her chair sideways and crashed into Ed's chair, making it move to the side. Ed, who had his foot on the chair, lost his balance and tried to grab the table. He managed to grip a side of it, only it was a slippery stack of papers. He fell, and as Al tried to catch his brother and the papers, he slipped on some more papers, and hit the table, making it flip into the air and crash to the ground. Julie whimpered and Ed and Al sweat-dropped.

~*~*~*~*~*~Time Skip: 3 Hours*~*~*~*~*~*

Julie quickly scribbled something down super fast on a paper. Al flipped through a book while Ed sorted through some papers. A bell resounded through the room. Maria stood up and said, "The library's closing." Brosh yawned. "Jeez, they've been at it for ten days now."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Crap crap crap crappity crap crap! Oh, no, is this seriously….no way…..but that's impossible…..the notes…..why?" I thought. My hearts raced, and I wrote stuff down faster on a paper. I had almost a book full of key phrases, or ingredients, that I found in the notes I was looking through. Everyway I placed the notes had the same answer. My hand trembled. The notes….the final ingredient to the Philosopher's Stone is-

"EDWARD!" I shrieked. My voice was hoarse from working so silently for such a long time.

"Whoa!" Ed's pen flew in the air in suprise. Al looked up from his papers.

"Are you ok? What's wrong?" Al asked. I shoved my notes towards the boys. The crowded around it. A couple seconds later, they looked up.

"What about it?" Ed said. I used a trembling hand to point out some stuff to him. Ed narrowed his eyes as he read and pieced the stuff together. Al's eyes brightened with realization, and Ed's eyes widened.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Ed screamed. He slammed his foot into a chair and kicked it across the room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Normal POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Julie stared at the notes with a look of shock on her placed a hand over her mouth and doubled over. Suddenly, Maria and Brosh burst into the room and looked around. Ed had thrown some papers to the ground in anger and disbelief.

"Whoa, what happened?" Brosh said as he walked deeper into the room. Ed slammed his arm on the table, startling the soldiers.

"Those notes. . .they're evil. They. . . . ." Ed growled, and Al lowered his head.

"The main ingredient to making a Philosopher's Stone. . . . . are HUMANS." Julie muttered. Her blue eyes were cold and angry. Brosh and Maria's faces had utter shock in them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~Time Skip~*~*~*~*~

Julie collapsed on a couch with her head back. She sighed and flopped onto her stomach. Then her upside-down. The flat out. Then-

"Julie, stop," Ed said, sounding miserable. She froze, halfway between hanging over the couch to flipping upside-down. She sighed again, and flopped onto her stomach. Ed was in his tank-top, and was laying on another couch. Al was in a corner.

"You guys should eat. Aren't you hungr-"

"No." Edward cut Al off. Ed sighed.

"Pretty awful, huh?" Ed said. Julie closed her eyes and let out a small whimper. Al nodded.

Suddenly, there was a slam on the door. Julie was at a really awkward position on the couch, so she slid right off and crumpled to the floor with her bangs all messed up.

"Elric brothers and your cousin! I know you're in there!" Armstrong shouted.

"Creepy." Julie muttered from the floor. Ed and Al sweat-dropped and looked at the door. Armstrong slammed again.

"What do we do, brother?" Alphonse asked.

"Ignore him." Ed said in an obvious tone.

"Cruel." Julie whispered on the ground. Suddenly, the door exploded with Armstrong standing, sparkling in the clearing dust.

"Rude." Julie groaned. Armstrong had a sparkled party going around him, and his glimmering tears weren't helping. Ed and Al screamed.

"Loud." Julie sighed.

"How tragic! To think-the legend of the Philosopher's Stone! Such a terrible secret!" Armstrong cried. Ed and Al, even Julie, swiveled their heads to look at an ashamed Maria and Brosh at the doorway.

"Often. . .often the truth is more cruel than we bargained for!" Armstrong said in a passionate voice. Ed sighed. Armstrong pulled a map out of his shirt pocket. Julie flopped upright and walked to the crowd around the map.

"There are four laboratories in Central that are connected to the government. This one-" Armstrong pointed to an some boxes on the map. "Are the most suspected." Ed narrowed his eyes. He pointed to a large, red "X" on the map and asked, "What's this building used for?"

"It was supposed to be a fifth laboratory, but it's deserted. The structure wasn't safe for experiments to be held, so it's off limits." Maria said. Ed traced a line from the "X" to a prison.

"There might've been prisoners in there who have been ordered for execution."

"So?" Brosh muttered.

"The main ingredient for the stone? Remember? Now I know what Ed is trying to say. The prisoners could be used to make the stone. There's plenty of live humans there." Julie observed. Everyone turned and stared at her.

"What?" Julie asked. Edward nodded with a grin.

"Exactly." Armstrong nodded, and rolled the map back up.

"I'll look into this matter. In the meantime, officers, please, do not speak of this to no one."

Armstrong turned and walked out the. . .hole instead of the doorway. Then he turned around sharply and said, "And you, Elric brothers! BEHAVE YOURSELVES!"

Ed and Al turned around with guilty looks on their faces while Julie played with her hair.

"I know what you are thinking! But do not sneak over to the laboratory!" Ed and Al sighed.

"Ok, Ok. We won't." Ed said in a sound of defeat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Time Skip: 2 Hours*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~Julie's POV~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I jumped onto my bed and sighed. I hadn't gotten washed up for bed yet. I thought about the Philosopher's Stone. I couldn't believe the main ingredient was huma-WAIT. I stood up and tilted my head. _Pat pat pat pat._ I looked out the window and saw two dark figures turn around the corner.

"Oh, no! They're going to the-idiots!" I slammed my window open and leapt out. I was used to jumping off buildings, so landing from the 4th floor didn't hurt. I landed as softly as a cat and ran after my rebellious cousins.

**So how was it? The laboratory scene is next, so it might take a while. Thanks for reading!**


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